The growth in computer applications that require heavy data traffic and the increasing availability of high-speed transmission lines and intelligent communication switches create a need for data communication networks able to manage a huge amount of data at high rates. Complex software that addresses high-performance requirements of data networks is used to manage communications between a CPU and network devices.
Such software may require that certain bits in a network device, such as control and status bits, be accessed in a specific way. For example, a particular bit is required to be located in a specific position in a particular register along with some other bits accessible during the same access operation or sequence of access operations.
Thus, to be able to operate with different types of software, a network device should store the same information in various registers. Separate control means should be provided to maintain consistency of bits corresponding to the same information.
Therefore, it would be desirable to enable a network device to operate with different types of software without storing the same information in different locations.